How Much Self-Promotion is Too Much

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

Self-promotion is a component of both building a leadership brand and a leader’s effectiveness and long-term success. We urge leaders today to develop their expertise, to write about and speak about their work, and to be active on social media platforms like LinkedIn. But how much is too much, and what if your boss accuses you of being a self-promoter more interested in your accomplishments than promoting the work of your team?

I am coaching a young nurse executive who now finds herself in the uncomfortable position of being seen as a relentless self-promoter by her boss, the CEO of her organization. Over the past two years, she has worked to build a strong leadership brand. She has published articles, is very active on LinkedIn, and considers herself a rising influencer. She is running for office in a national professional association and has an increasing number of speaking engagements. Through her lens, she is promoting her organization’s brand nationally, but her boss does not see it that way.  Initially, her boss supported all this outside work, but things have shifted. He had a frank discussion with her about priorities. Her organization, like others, is facing some very challenging headwinds in 2025. The CEO feels he needs all hands on deck and cannot have her sitting on national committees and doing speaking engagements. Through his lens, she does very little to promote the work of others in the organization but instead focuses on her accomplishments. He gave her an ultimatum that she needed to refocus on her role priorities and step back from her outside activities in 2025. She is understandably concerned. She cannot financially afford to be terminated from her role, which will likely happen if she changes nothing. 

Over the decades I have spent in leadership, I have seen situations like this repeatedly as leaders begin to get traction in building their brand nationally. Unfortunately, most leaders in this situation receive no warning that this is how leaders in their organization perceive them. One day, they are called into a meeting with HR, and their contract is terminated. It can be extremely challenging to get another position after this happens and many end up going into business for themselves.

I asked her what she wanted. She disagrees with the viewpoint of her CEO and believes that the work she does both inside and outside her organization has value. She has already contractually committed to several outside engagements in 2025 that will be hard to rescind. Her initial plan was to battle back and try to change the mind of her CEO. I asked her whether she believed he was the only one in the organization who saw her activities as self-promotion. She was not sure. I told her my experience with CNOs who had been in her position was that this was likely discussed with other leadership team members, perhaps even her staff, who felt her absence and picked up her workload. Suddenly, people start noticing your absence and questioning your commitment. From the perspective of her CEO, he may feel that there are aspects of her role that she is not doing or may not be contributing substantively to strategic planning in the organization.

The truth is that you can’t do or have it all. Every time you commit to something, it generally means you are not spending time doing something else. When your staff sees pictures of you on LinkedIn at national meetings, speaking, or on task forces, they may feel you have access to perks in your role that they are not given. They may also think that you are out there taking credit for the work of a team and not you alone.

She asked me what I would do in this situation. I told her I would thank the CEO for having this conversation because perception is the reality for them. I would immediately scale back if I planned to remain in the role. I would also develop a plan to discuss with the CEO because if she had signed contracts, she would be legally liable to fulfill them but sign no more moving forward. She also needs to rethink ways to build her leadership brand by shining the light on others in her organization.

© emergingrnleader.com 2025

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